Two bureaucrats are trying to make the most of the controversy.
PCS officer Alankar Agnihotri is claiming to have become the symbol of Brahmin resistance [Photo: X]
New Delhi: State bureaucracy has emerged as the latest arena for the Centre versus State tussle rumoured to be unfolding in Uttar Pradesh, with bureaucrats openly taking political sides.
While a senior PCS officer resigned from his post alleging that the general category had been implicitly “declared criminal” under the new UGC guidelines, also citing the alleged mistreatment of Batuk Brahmins of the Jyotish Peeth during the Prayagraj Magh Mela, a GST deputy commissioner from Ayodhya resigned “in support of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.”
PCS officer Alankar Agnihotri is claiming to have become the symbol of Brahmin resistance and is making inflammatory remarks on the Centre.
Speaking to journalists in his hometown Kanpur on Saturday, former Bareilly city magistrate Agnihotri— who was suspended by the UP appointments department late Monday night and now faces an inquiry initiated by the Bareilly divisional commissioner— made a sharp U-turn and trained his guns at the Central government.
He claimed that the UGC regulations were brought with the 2027 Assembly elections in mind, alleging that the Central government is at loggerheads with the state government and with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“The UGC regulations that were published in the gazette on January 13 were brought by the Government of India and had a clause which considered the general category as ‘declared criminal’ under a wellthought-out and planned conspiracy. These UGC regulations were brought keeping in mind the 2027 Assembly elections because the central government is fighting with the state government and a fight is also going on with the honourable Chief Minister. However, CM Yogi is the CM of the state and belongs to us,” he said.
Agnihotri has now demanded that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament to repeal what he termed “black SC/ST laws” within seven days.
“When I resigned, the message went across the entire country and all organisations, including the Brahmins Parishad and farmer unions, united. Now, on a fixed date, we will give the central government seven days to repeal the black SC/ST Act by calling a special parliamentary session. If they don’t do it, the entire country will march towards Delhi. I am from Kanpur and I will lead a Dandi March and also revolt like Tantya Tope. Remember that Uttar Pradesh is a land of revolution,” he said.
Further targeting the Centre, Agnihotri alleged that “outsiders coming here have clamped down on all public representatives by using the entire central machinery, including the Election Commission of India, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.”
“If they voice even a little objection, they face harassment. If they speak in favour of the central parties, then everything is fine for them. Since there was no action on this, I decided to resign because I felt it would send a message,” he said.
Agnihotri’s comments stand in sharp contrast to his remarks immediately after resigning, when he had criticised the Prayagraj administration and the UP government for allegedly dragging the disciples of Swami Avimukteshwaranand by their tufts of hair (shikha), saying that “the souls of Brahmins would be stirred if they saw the kind of videos that had emerged.”
Agnihotri has also made it clear that he would consider joining politics if society wants it and said that he had spoken to Jyotir Peeth Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati before quitting.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, a senior UP BJP leader said Agnihotri toned down his stance after being approached by senior officers of the UP government, a section of which is also attempting a reconciliation with the Shankaracharya.
“He was suspended and an inquiry was initiated against him, but since he says that he has become a symbol of Brahmin resistance in Uttar Pradesh, it will be difficult to take further action against him.
The government is on the back foot and senior officers have reached out to the Shankaracharya, who had been sitting on a protest for days. The government’s view is that Agnihotri should not speak against the state government, which is why senior officers have attempted reconciliation with him as well,” the leader said.
Agnihotri’s decision to sharpen his attack on the Centre suggests that he may also be projecting himself as someone who has sacrificed for the cause of the upper castes, the leader added.
However, while Agnihotri may be charting a political path, another bureaucrat who “resigned” in support of Adityanath appeared to have used the controversy for an image makeover and to position himself favourably with the UP Chief Minister’s Office.
Prashant Singh, the GST deputy commissioner who resigned in support of the UP CM a day after Agnihotri’s resignation, has since withdrawn his “resignation” after it emerged that he allegedly used a fake disability certificate to secure his government job and failed to appear before the Mau divisional medical committee despite being summoned twice to record his statement.
Singh’s brother, Dr Vishwajeet Singh, alleged that the government had directed the Mau Chief Medical Officer to probe the disability certificate on the basis of which Prashant Singh secured his job. Following these revelations, the state government has now sought a detailed report from the Mau CMO.
Santosh Dubey, president of the eastern UP region of the Shiv Sena and a resident of Ayodhya, alleged that Singh attempted to become a “yes man” of the UP government by capitalising on the controversy and resigning in support of the Chief Minister.
“He is a fraudster. He indulged in drama in Ayodhya by claiming to have resigned in favour of the CM to hide the fraud he committed to get a government job. He has now been exposed, as it has emerged that he used a fake disability certificate. It has also come to light that he was an office bearer of the Lok Manch political party floated by the late Amar Singh. An inquiry should be conducted against such people,” he told this newspaper.
